Federal investigators are looking into $10,000 in payments from current and former ComEd lobbyists to an ousted political operative for House Speaker Michael Madigan, sources have told the Chicago Tribune.
Records obtained by the Tribune reveal that the checks went to Kevin Quinn, a former top Madigan lieutenant and brother of 13th Ward Ald. Marty Quinn, after he was dismissed from the speaker’s political operation in early 2018 amid a sexual harassment scandal.
The checks came from accounts linked to five current or former lobbyists for utility giant ComEd, including Madigan’s close confidant Michael McClain, records showed. McClain’s home in downstate Quincy was raided by the FBI two months ago.
The FBI is looking at the checks as part of an ongoing investigation, a source with knowledge of the probe told the Tribune.
While the exact nature of the inquiry remains unclear, it involves some of Madigan’s closest political allies. Quinn’s house was raided by federal agents in mid-May, around the same time the search warrant was executed at McClain’s home in Quincy, the Tribune has reported.
Also in May, the FBI executed a search warrant at the Southwest Side home of retired Ald. Michael Zalewski. Among the information the FBI was seeking in that raid were records of communications among Madigan, McClain and Zalewski related to attempts to get ComEd lobbying work for Zalewski after he retired in 2018, a law enforcement source has said.
ComEd recently confirmed in a report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that both ComEd and parent company Exelon received a federal grand jury subpoena “requiring production of information concerning their lobbying activities” in Illinois. The report stated the companies have “pledged to cooperate fully” and were “expeditiously providing the requested information.” A ComEd spokeswoman declined to comment further Tuesday.
No one has been charged as a result of the investigation. Neither the lobbyists nor a Madigan spokesman responded to requests for comment Tuesday. An attorney for Quinn declined to comment.
As speaker, Madigan exercises great power in the House, including whether legislation gets a vote or is buried. ComEd employs a large team of lobbyists to advocate for its interests at the Capitol and historically is one of the largest campaign contributors to Illinois politicians.
In addition to the federal attention, the checks Kevin Quinn received could prove politically damaging for Madigan, who dismissed Quinn in February 2018 after campaign worker Alaina Hampton accused him of repeatedly sexually harassing her.
At the time, Hampton provided the Tribune explicit texts that Quinn sent to her, including one in which he referenced a Facebook picture of Hampton in a bikini and called her “smoking hot.”
Hampton repeatedly discouraged the overtures, but the unwanted contact only stopped after she informed his brother, Marty, she said. She left the Madigan organization and eventually sent the speaker a letter detailing her allegations in November 2017.
In announcing Kevin Quinn’s ouster, Madigan, who also chairs the Illinois Democratic Party, praised Hampton as a “courageous woman” for coming forward.
“Ald. Marty Quinn and I decided that Kevin should no longer be affiliated with the political organization,” Madigan said at the time. He also said Kevin Quinn would not be allowed to return to his previous roles as a state employee and political worker for the speaker.
Madigan was roundly criticized for his handling of the scandal, which came at the height of the national #MeToo movement and was one of a succession of sexual harassment-related allegations to rock the speaker’s formidable political machine.
In September 2018, Madigan penned an op-ed to the Tribune promising a top-to-bottom reform of how his office handled such issues.
“I have made it a personal mission to take this issue head-on and correct past mistakes,” Madigan wrote. “I wish I would have done so sooner.”
That same month, Madigan allies sent checks to Kevin Quinn, according to copies of the records reviewed by the Tribune.
A check for $1,000 went to Quinn from the law firm of John Bradley, records show. Bradley, a former state representative from Marion who was part of Madigan’s House Democratic leadership team, is now a registered lobbyist for ComEd. Bradley’s firm also wrote three more checks to Quinn, each for $1,000, In January, February and March 2019, according to the records.
Two other checks for $1,000 each came from Cornerstone Government Affairs, a Washington-based firm that has among its ranks Will Cousineau, who bills himself on the company website as the longest-serving political director to Madigan and Illinois House Democrats. Cousineau joined the firm in June 2017, and ComEd is a Cornerstone client. The checks were both issued in January 2019.
On Tuesday evening, a Cornerstone spokesman said the lobbying firm had received a subpoena related to Quinn’s work as an independent contractor. Quinn was paid $1,000-a-month for six months ending in March 2019 for doing research and monitoring committee hearings, the spokesman said.
Cornerstone is “fully cooperating with that request,” the spokesman said in a statement.
Another $1,000 check dated in December 2018 came from Cullen Inc. The address on the check is the same as lobbying firm of Tom Cullen, another former Madigan political director. Cullen is a former ComEd lobbyist who now represents Ameren, a big downstate utility.
Lobbyist Michael Alvarez sent a $2,000 check from his firm to Quinn dated New Year’s Day 2019. The memo line said “consulting services Dec. 2018.” Alvarez, a former Metropolitan Water Reclamation District member, is registered as a City Hall lobbyist for ComEd, records show.
Quinn also got a $1,000 check dated in September 2018 from a businessman who has worked with Madigan’s property tax appeals law firm. The memo line of the check says “McClain.”
It’s unclear why “McClain” is written on the check. But the records show that McClain, a former legislator and retired ComEd lobbyist who for decades has been considered one of Madigan’s closest confidants, also gave a $1,000 check to Quinn. The check was signed by McClain’s wife from the couple’s joint account. Quinn deposited it in January 2019.
McClain declined to comment about the FBI raid on his house when contacted by the Tribune last week. McClain’s relationship with Madigan dates to the 1970s when both were in the Illinois House. McClain served until he was defeated in 1982.
Quinn, meanwhile, has stated in court filings in his ongoing divorce case that he is out of work and unable to pay the $1,085-a-month in court-ordered child support.
In April, Quinn asked that the payments be reduced, saying in a filing that he was a “self-employed consultant and does not have any clients at this time, despite his best efforts to obtain additional work and clientele.”
In early May, the same month the FBI raided his house, Quinn was ordered by Cook County Judge Jeanne Cleveland Bernstein to actively seek employment, including maintaining a “job diary to contain no less than 15 entries per week” so the judge could see his progress in finding work, court records show.
rlong@chicagotribune.com
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
